1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to feeders and dispensers for children, infants and the like and more particularly relates to an improved infant/child feeder/pacifier apparatus that can be used with formula, juices, beverages, frozen substances, soft food and the like wherein concentric chambers are formed by an outer flexible deformable housing and an inner flexible deformable housing wherein the child squeezes on the outer housing thereby depressing a fluid buffer held between the outer housing and the chamber, so that food/beverage contained within the innermost chamber can be dispensed through a tip portion having one or more holes.
2. General Background
Infants and small children typically feed upon a number of soft food items such as pureed food, and/or a number of beverage items including frozen beverages. Frozen liquids can become a mixture or slurry of frozen and liquid material after the child is given the food and it begins to melt.
Small children and infants often use teething rings or pacifiers to stop teething pain. Infants also are often fed through pacifier-like dispensing devices which have a cylindrical chamber and a push rod for forcing liquid from the chamber through a pacifier or nipple dispensing end portion. Such dispensing devices are known and used commercially such as are sold under the trademark "Infa-Feeder".
Some commercially available pacifiers are solid, and of a flexible material such as rubber or plastic. Other pacifiers have a liquid filled interior such as a rubber or plastic pacifier having water on its inside.
It is an object of the present invention to combine a food/beverage dispenser with a pacifier which allows the child to feed or his or herself even if the child's motor skills are not fully advanced. Thus, the present invention eliminates the need for push rods, triggers or other devices for feeding the child, because the child's normal squeezing pressure upon the apparatus produces the dispensing of the food/beverage product. Further, even if the child is unable to squeeze large amounts of food from the dispenser of the present invention, the apparatus provides a unique teething structure which acts as both a teething ring/pacifier for the infant as well as dispenser for food/beverage therefrom.
A number of pacifiers and dispensers and even combinations of the two have been patented. For example a pacifier which is designed to dispense medicine, vitamins and the like as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,165 issued to Szuderski entitled "Medicated Pacifier". The apparatus includes an outer pacifier structure having a plurality of openings in the nipple end portion of the pacifier which is normally inserted in the mouth of a child or infant. A circular ring is provided for gripping by the child. An object of the Szuderski patent is to provide a pacifier which includes a container that holds a substance for consumption by the child for example medication including vitamins, the container being a foramanous or porous and readily replaceable structure and the nipple being provided with a number of aperatures whereby the contents of the container may be drawn therefrom while the infant or child is using the pacifier.
An example of an infant's spoon is seen in U.S. Des. Pat. No. 167,623 in which the spoon has a ring type structure attached to one end portion thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,913,627 provides a nursing and teething nipple and pacifier construction. U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,693 issued to Pecora provides an infant teething and feeding device.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,829 issued to Tannenbaum et al. there is provided a pacifier having a reservoir for holding a quantity of a desired fluid substance.
The Demiere U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,115 provides a spoon of stainless steel with a handle and a bowl or head at one end of the handle. The other end of the handle is secured via a metal to plastic seal to a plastic teething ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,307 issued to Baer and entitled "Pacifier With Sweet Dispensing Nipple", provides a pacifier having a nipple with a small chamber, the wall of which has perforations. In use, the chamber is supplied with flavored sweets such as candy or frozen fruit juices.
Most of these prior art references relate primarily to small pacifier type structure holding minute amounts of liquid, rather than the improved food/beverage dispenser of the present invention which provides for a relatively large reservoir of food/beverage to be dispensed to the infant or child responsive to the child's squeezing of the overall housing of the device. Thus, the present invention provides an improved feeder/pacifier apparatus with a unique configuration that solves the problem of providing an infant with both a feeding/dispensing device and a pacifier.